telemachus's journey
by L-neo
Summary: telemachus reflects on his journey


Book: 25—Journey of Telemachus  
  
Nora O'Malley  
  
When Telemachus woke the next morning, he felt a strange wave of peacefulness. Though he looked no different to anyone else, Athena had come down and given him new strength. He felt taller, stronger, more powerful-he felt he could accomplish anything. He got out of bed, and fastened his rawhide sandals, and picked up his rugged spear.  
  
His attitude now was so different than it had been before. When his estate was still plagued with suitors, and his father's whereabouts were still unknown, he woke everyday with a heavy heart. He didn't have the desire to even get out of his bed, much less watch his fortune be squandered away. However, with the help of Athena and the return of his father, his total demeanor had changed. It was like the transition from winter to spring, with the sun's bright warm face peeking over a dark wood, and shining across a field blanketed by snow that once seemed so dead. But then, as the sun grows warmer and more intense, small buds can be seen struggling through the thick white shield that hides them for months, and with the sun's help, they can break through and grow to what they once were, or what they have the promise to become.  
  
Telemachus walked over to his window taller than he ever had. He looked out on the vast land before him, of his native land of Ithica, that had now been restored to it's rightful ruler. He had helped Ithica to be saved from the suitors that would have eventually moved on from his own fortune, to the wealth of the land. His father had finally returned, and for once and for all regained his rule, and Telemachus had regained his dignity, and had secured his place as heir.  
  
The mass bloodshed that had occurred in his home the previous night, he knew was necessary. The suitors that had once infested his home, had to be stopped, and the only way to stop a group like that is by force. His father, the mighty war hero, had once again worked his clever knowledge of battles, and Telemachus had used his knowledge of the people, and of the house and its condition of present to signifigantly help his father. Telemachus had not only learned all he could from his all- knowing father, but he seemed to have taught his father something too. Telemachus felt he had taught him something of mercy. When Odysseus was ready to kill the herald, Telemachus came to his rescue and showed him mercy. Telemachus had not only taken lives, but also saved lives, feats his father had accomplished years before, and that he now also accomplished. He felt as though he carried out justice on all levels.  
  
Standing at his familiar window his eyes also laid rest on the humble house of the loyal swineherd who was like a second father to him. There he had returned from his journey looking for information of his father. It was in that little home of a loyal servant that he was reunited with his father whom he had never known, yet had wished to know his whole life. It was there that he had collaborated with his father for a plan to get rid of the suitors. Collaborated. He had not been told an already made plan, but had in fact helped dream it up  
  
He now looked at the road he had taken to leave his native land of Ithica first to journey to Pylos to visit Nestor and later, to Sparta to inquire of Menelaus about his father's whereabouts. In both these places, he was treated as a grown man of honor, and worth. He was given feasts and riches. He also made a friend in king Nestor's son, who was now more like a brother. The trip was something that Telemachus needed to take to gain, either closure, or a kind of opening on his father. It had been talked about, but the suitors never seriously thought that he would actually take the journey. These suitors had seen him, watched him grow up. They however, still thought of him as a child. They never dreamed he would have matured enough to set sail on a trip of his own. Actually going through with the trip, Telemachus knew, proved that he had grown up and was now capable of accomplishing something he wanted.  
  
As Telemachus stood at his window reflecting on the events of the past few months, others were watching him as well.  
  
"Wise daughter Athena, now that you've returned the man who plundered Troy and who was lost from his home for so many years, what do you say now? Has it all gone to plan?"  
  
"Mighty father, I would say everything with Odysseus could not have turned out any better than I had hoped, and I am grateful that you complied with my actions. Not only have all my toils with Odysseus ended brilliantly, but as a bonus I was able to guide another, and lead them to a better life."  
  
"And, who is this mortal you speak of?"  
  
"Why father, if you can't see that the son of the clever war hero Odysseus was helped just as much if not more than his mighty father, than I don't know what kind of god you think yourself to be. When I first came to Telemachus, he was a wretched skeleton of a man, confused and powerless, left only with stories of the father he must live up to if he wanted to regain power. Now however, he no longer sits in misery and watches his riches be diminished day by day by the plagues of suitors; he now fights side by side with his father, and is now regarded by his father and by everyone else as a grown man, no longer a child. All he was in need of was a small bit of inspiration, which I was able to contribute to him. I feel that he is a far better man now, than he was in those miserable months before, and it pleases me to see him."  
  
Telemachus knew he had grown and was now worthy of the title of Odysseus's true son. He slowly walked to his door and walked out into the halls, which he had walked so dimly countless times before, and they now seemed filled with light and joy. He greeted maids as he passed and kept a bright smile on his face. He proudly and pointedly entered the great banquet hall where his mother and father were seated side by side, waiting for him to take their morning meal; this was a sight new to his eyes, but immediately welcomed and loved by them. As he had never done before, he walked over to the chair to the immediate right of his father, the great Odysseus, and sat down in the place that was rightly his, being the true son of Odysseus. This moment he felt, was the beginning of the life he had always waited for. 


End file.
